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Monday, March 29, 2010

Naturally Gluten-Free Vegetables

I shopped at Whole Foods today, perfectly ripe Haas avocado were 2 for $4. Growing up, I had this amazing avocado tree in my back yard and it was next to an equally prolific lemon tree. The most perfect way to eat an avocado is to slice it open and then dress it with a little kosher salt and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

I ate that as my late afternoon snack. I know they have thousands of calories, but that taste just brought back my west coast child hood. The only difference is that it wasn’t plucked from a tree and still warm from the sun.

I started thinking about what else I had planned for dinner. Whole Foods had a nice organic turkey breast and that roasted in the oven with a glaze of olive oil and some herbs. I peeled and chunked up some sweet potatoes and those roasted until the outside was caramelized and the insides were sweet. I also fixed what I call a “can of chicken soup recipe,” I wilted spinach and blended low fat cream cheese, artichoke hearts and water chestnuts.

All of these delicious vegetables as snacks or side dishes are gluten free. The other nice thing about vegetables is that the label is really easy to read…no preservatives or mysterious ingredients.

The “FLOTUS” has inspired me with her White House garden and her "let’s move" campaign. I am trying to serve two vegetables every night for dinner. We are a pretty active family so that’s not a problem, but not one of my kids eagerly (or even forcibly) eats vegetables.

I always tell my celiac that he really needs to learn to eat a salad because sometimes that’s the only thing gluten-free on a menu. There are only so many nude burgers and fries a person can eat.

I dried out the turkey, the sweet potatoes were devoured and only the adults ate the spinach. Three of them substituted an apple for the spinach. But, one daughter polished off the other Hass avocado…California style.